Microsoft sues U.S. government over user data requests

Microsoft logo
(Image credit: Stephen Lam/Getty Images)

Microsoft filed suit against the U.S. Justice Department Thursday, alleging that laws that prevent the company from telling its customers when their data — specifically their email — is being accessed by the federal government are unconstitutional. The suit, which was filed in the company's home city of Seattle, is the latest legal battle between the U.S. government and a tech company; the FBI recently withdrew its well-publicized case against Apple to unlock the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone, though both parties are still set to testify to the House on encryption.

Microsoft's case has to do with the government's surveillance of customers' data in the cloud. The company claims the government "has exploited the transition to cloud computing as a means of expanding its power to conduct secret investigations."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up
Explore More

Samantha Rollins is TheWeek.com's news editor. She has previously worked for The New York Times and TIME and is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.